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Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Vatican City, 8 July 2015 (VIS) – The
Holy Father's day began with a meeting with the bishops and bishops
emeritus of Ecuador, in Bicentennial Park in Quito. After greetings
from the president of the Ecuadorian Episcopal Conference, Archbishop
Fausto Gabriel Travez O.F.M., the Pope spoke with the bishops
formally, behind closed doors.

The meeting lasted around a hour, after
which the Pope travelled by popemobile to the park, in the space
previously occupied by the former airport and known as the “lung of
Quito”, due to its 125 hectares of trees. He greeted the more than
one and a half million faithful attending the Holy Mass for the
Evangelisation of Peoples, at which the Holy Father presided,
concelebrating with 1,200 priests.

In the improvised sacristy he put on
the liturgical vestments – stole, chasuble and miter – made in
the Ecuadorian region of Azuay by local artisans and by the Descalzed
Carmelites with the symbols of a calla lily, representing St. Mariana
de Jesus, the first Ecuadorian saint, and the Heart of Jesus, to
which Ecuador is consecrated.

In his second homily in Latin America,
the Pope spoke about liberation: liberation from social inequality
and sin, the need for inclusion at all levels and evangelisation as a
vehicle for unity of aspirations, sensibilities and hopes.

He began by paraphrasing Jesus' remark
at the Last Supper – The word of God calls us to live in unity,
that the world may believe – and added, “I think of those hushed
words of Jesus during the Last Supper as more of a shout, a cry
rising up from this Mass which we are celebrating in Bicentennial
Park. Let us imagine this together. The bicentennial which this Park
commemorates was that of Latin America’s cry for independence. It
was a cry which arose from being conscious of a lack of freedom, of
exploitation and despoliation, of being 'subject to the passing whims
of the powers that be'.

“I would like to see these two cries
joined together, under the beautiful challenge of evangelisation. We
evangelise not with grand words, or complicated concepts, but with
'the joy of the Gospel', which 'fills the hearts and lives of all who
encounter Jesus. For those who accept his offer of salvation are set
free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness, loneliness, and an isolated
conscience'. We who are gathered here at table with Jesus are
ourselves a cry, a shout born of the conviction that his presence
leads us to unity, 'pointing to a horizon of beauty and inviting
others to a delicious banquet'.

“'Father, may they be one ... so that
the world may believe'. This was Jesus’ prayer as he raised his
eyes to heaven. This petition arose in a context of mission: 'As you
sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world'. At that
moment, the Lord experiences in his own flesh the worst of this
world, a world he nonetheless loves dearly. Knowing full well its
intrigues, its falsity and its betrayals, he does not turn away, he
does not complain. We too encounter daily a world torn apart by wars
and violence. It would be facile to think that division and hatred
only concern struggles between countries or groups in society.
Rather, they are a manifestation of that 'widespread individualism'
which divides us and sets us against one another, they are a
manifestation of that legacy of sin lurking in the heart of human
beings, which causes so much suffering in society and all of
creation. But is it precisely this troubled world, with its forms of
egoism, into which Jesus sends us. We must not respond with
nonchalance, or complain we do not have the resources to do the job,
or that the problems are too big. Instead, we must respond by taking
up the cry of Jesus and accepting the grace and challenge of being
builders of unity.

“There was no shortage of conviction
or strength in that cry for freedom which arose a little more than
two hundred years ago. But history tells us that it only made headway
once personal differences were set aside, together with the desire
for power and the inability to appreciate other movements of
liberation which were different yet not thereby opposed.

“Evangelisation can be a way to unite
our hopes, concerns, ideals and even utopian visions. We believe this
and we make it our cry. In our world, especially in some countries,
different forms of war and conflict are re-emerging, yet we
Christians wish to remain steadfast in our intention to respect
others, to heal wounds, to build bridges, to strengthen relationships
and to bear one another’s burdens. The desire for unity involves
the delightful and comforting joy of evangelising, the conviction
that we have an immense treasure to share, one which grows stronger
from being shared, and becomes ever more sensitive to the needs of
others. Hence the need to work for inclusivity at every level, to
strive for this inclusivity at every level, to avoid forms of
selfishness, to build communication and dialogue, to encourage
collaboration. We need to give our hearts to our companions along the
way, without suspicion or distrust. Trusting others is an art,
because peace is an art. Our unity can hardly shine forth if
spiritual worldliness makes us feud among ourselves in a futile quest
for power, prestige, pleasure or economic security. And this on the
backs of the poorest, the most excluded and vulnerable, those who
still keep their dignity despite daily blows against it.

“Such unity is already an act of
mission, that the world may believe. Evangelisation does not consist
in proselytising, for proselytising is a caricature of
evangelisation, but rather evangelising entails attracting by our
witness those who are far off, it means humbly drawing near to those
who feel distant from God in the Church, drawing near to those who
feel judged and condemned outright by those who consider themselves
to be perfect and pure. We are to draw near to those who are fearful
or indifferent, and say to them: 'The Lord, with great respect and
love, is also calling you to be a part of your people'. Because our
God respects us even in our lowliness and in our sinfulness. This
calling of the Lord is expressed with such humility and respect in
the text from the Book of Revelations: 'Look, I am at the door and I
am calling; do you want to open the door?' He does not use force, he
does not break the lock, but instead, quite simply, he presses the
doorbell, knocks gently on the door and then waits. This is our God!

“The Church’s mission as sacrament
of salvation also has to do with her identity as a pilgrim people
called to embrace all the nations of the earth. The more intense the
communion between us, the more effective our mission becomes.
Becoming a missionary Church requires constantly fostering communion,
since mission does not have to do with outreach alone. We also need
to be missionaries within the Church, showing that she is 'a mother
who reaches out, showing that she is a welcoming home, a constant
school of missionary communion'.

“Jesus’ prayer can be realised
because he has consecrated us. He says, 'for their sake I consecrate
myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth'. The spiritual
life of an evangeliser is born of this profound truth, which should
not be confused with a few comforting religious exercises, a
spirituality which is perhaps widespread. Jesus consecrates us so
that we can encounter him, person to person; an encounter that leads
us in turn to encounter others, to become involved with our world and
to develop a passion for evangelisation.

“Intimacy with God, in itself
incomprehensible, is revealed by images which speak to us of
communion, communication, self-giving and love. For that reason, the
unity to which Jesus calls us is not uniformity, but rather a
'multifaceted and inviting harmony'. The wealth of our differences,
our diversity which becomes unity whenever we commemorate Holy
Thursday, makes us wary of all temptations that suggest extremist
proposals akin to totalitarian, ideological or sectarian schemes. The
proposal offered by Jesus is a concrete one and not a notion. It is
concrete: 'Go and do the same' he tells that man who asked, 'who is
my neighbour?'. After telling the parable of the Good Samaritan,
Jesus says, 'Go and do the same'. Nor is this proposal of Jesus
something we can fashion as we will, setting conditions, choosing who
can belong and who cannot; the religiosity of the ‘elite’. Jesus
prays that we will all become part of a great family in which God is
our Father, in which all of us are brothers and sisters. No one is
excluded; and this is not about having the same tastes, the same
concerns, the same gifts. We are brothers and sisters because God
created us out of love and destined us, purely of his own initiative,
to be his sons and daughters. We are brothers and sisters because God
has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying 'Abba!
Father!'. We are brothers and sisters because, justified by the blood
of Christ Jesus, we have passed from death to life and been made
'coheirs' of the promise. That is the salvation which God makes
possible for us, and which the Church proclaims with joy: to be part
of that 'we' which leads to the divine 'we'.

“Our cry, in this place linked to the
original cry for freedom in this country, echoes that of St. Paul:
'Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!'. It is a cry every bit as
urgent and pressing as was the cry for independence. It is similarly
thrilling in its ardour. Brothers and sisters, have the same mind as
Christ: May each of you be a witness to a fraternal communion which
shines forth in our world!

“And how beautiful it would be if all
could admire how much we care for one another, how we encourage and
help each other. Giving of ourselves establishes an interpersonal
relationship; we do not give 'things' but our very selves. Any act of
giving means that we give ourselves. 'Giving of oneself” means
letting all the power of that love which is God’s Holy Spirit take
root in our lives, opening our hearts to his creative power. And
giving of oneself even in the most difficult moments as on that Holy
Thursday of the Lord when he perceived how they weaved a plot to
betray him; but he gave himself, he gave himself for us with his plan
of salvation. When we give of ourselves, we discover our true
identity as children of God in the image of the Father and, like him,
givers of life; we discover that we are brothers and sisters of
Jesus, to whom we bear witness. This is what it means to evangelise;
this is the new revolution – for our faith is always revolutionary
– this is our deepest and most enduring cry”.

Vatican City, 8 July 2015 (VIS) – The
Pope's second meeting with Ecuadorians took place in the Pontifical
Catholic University of Ecuador, a private university founded in 1946,
property of the archdiocese of Quito and managed by Jesuit fathers,
with 30,000 students currently enrolled.

The Holy Father was greeted by the
rector, Cesar Fabian Carrasco Castro, and the bishop of Loja, Alfredo
Jose Espinoza Mateus, president of the Episcopal Commission for
Education and Culture. This was followed by a prayer, composed by St.
Miguel Febres Cordero F.S.C. (1854-1910), known as St. Hermano
Miguel, and a passage from the Gospel of St. Luke, the parable of the
sower, was read.

In the discourse he subsequently
pronounced, Francis expressed first his gratitude for the encounter
in a university “which for almost sixty years has helped to further
the Church’s educational mission in service to the men and women of
this country”, and went on to consider the theme of care for
creation and education as a seed for the transformation of society.

“In the Gospel we have just heard,
Jesus, the Master, teaches the crowds and the small group of his
disciples by accommodating himself to their ability to understand. He
does this with parables, like that of the sower. The Lord was always
flexible in His way of teaching. He does it in a way that everyone
can understand. Jesus does not seek to 'play the professor'”,
emphasised the Pope. “Instead, He seeks to reach people’s hearts,
their understanding and their lives, so that they may bear fruit. The
parable of the sower speaks to us of 'cultivating'. It speaks of
various kinds of soil, ways of sowing and bearing fruit, and how they
are all related. Ever since the time of Genesis, God has quietly
urged us to 'cultivate and care for the earth'. God does not only
give us life: he gives us the earth, he gives us all of creation. He
does not only give man a partner and endless possibilities: he also
gives human beings a task, he gives them a mission. He invites them
to be a part of his creative work and he says: 'Cultivate it! I am
giving you seeds, soil, water and sun. I am giving you your hands and
those of your brothers and sisters. There it is, it is yours. It is
a gift, a present, an offering. It is not something that can be
bought or acquired. It precedes us and it will be there long after
us. Our world is a gift given to us by God so that, with Him, we can
make it our own. God did not will creation for Himself, so He could
see Himself reflected in it. On the contrary: creation is a gift to
be shared. It is the space that God gives us to build up with one
another, to build a 'we'. The world, history, all of time – this is
the setting in which we build this 'we' with God, with others, with
the earth. This invitation is always present, more or less
consciously in our life; it is always there”.

But, Francis observed, “there is
something else which is special. As Genesis recounts, after the word
'cultivate', another word immediately follows: 'care'. Each explains
the other. They go hand in hand. Those who do not cultivate do not
care; those who do not care do not cultivate. We are not only invited
to share in the work of creation and to cultivate it, to make it grow
and to develop it. We are also invited to care for it, to protect it,
to be its guardians. Nowadays we are increasingly aware of how
important this is. It is no longer a mere recommendation, but rather
a requirement, 'because of the harm we have inflicted on [the earth]
by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has
endowed it. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters,
entitled to plunder her at will. This is why the earth herself,
burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated
of our poor'”.

He continued, “There is a
relationship between our life and that of mother earth, between the
way we live and the gift we have received from God. 'The human
environment and the natural environment deteriorate together; we
cannot adequately combat environmental degradation unless we attend
to causes related to human and social degradation'. Yet just as both
can 'deteriorate', we can also say that they can 'support one another
and can be changed for the better'. This reciprocal relationship can
lead to openness, transformation, and life, or to destruction and
death. One thing is certain: we can no longer turn our backs on
reality, on our brothers and sisters, on mother earth. It is wrong to
turn aside from what is happening all around us, as if certain
situations did not exist or have nothing to do with our life. It is
not lawful, much less human, to enter into the culture of waste.
Again and again we sense the urgency of the question which God put to
Cain, 'Where is your brother?' But I wonder if our answer continues
to be: 'Am I my brother’s keeper?'.

“I live in Rome, where it is cold in
winter. It can happen that just near the Vatican in the morning an
elderly person is found dead from the cold. There is no news report
in any of the daily or weekly newspapers. A poor person who dies
today of cold and hunger is not a news item, but if the stock markets
of the major world capitals drop two or three points, it is a great
global scandal. I ask myself: 'Where is your brother?' And I ask you
to do this once again, each of you, to ask this question, and to do
so at the university. To you, Catholic University, I ask: 'Where is
your brother?'”.

He went on to invite those present to
ask themselves whether it would be worthwhile reflecting “on the
way we educate about this earth of ours, which cries out to heaven”,
within the university setting, as “our academic institutions are
seedbeds, places full of possibility, fertile soil which we must care
for, cultivate and protect. Fertile soil thirsting for life”.

“My question to you, as educators, is
this: Do you watch over your students, helping them to develop a
critical sense, an open mind capable of caring for today’s world? A
spirit capable of seeking new answers to the varied challenges that
society sets before us? Are you able to encourage them not to
disregard the world around them? Does our life, with its
uncertainties, mysteries and questions, find a place in the
university curriculum or different academic activities? Do we enable
and support a constructive debate which fosters dialogue in the
pursuit of a more humane world? One avenue of reflection involves all
of us, family, schools and teachers. How do we help our young people
not to see a university degree as synonymous with higher status,
money and social prestige. How can we help make their education a
mark of greater responsibility in the face of today’s problems, the
needs of the poor, concern for the environment?”

He continued, “I also have a question
for you, dear students. You are Ecuador’s present and future, the
seedbed of your society’s future growth. Do you realise that this
time of study is not only a right, but a privilege? How many of your
friends, known or unknown, would like to have a place in this house
but, for various reasons, do not? To what extent do our studies help
us feel solidarity with them?

“Educational communities play an
essential role in the enrichment of civic and cultural life. It is
not enough to analyse and describe reality: there is a need to shape
environments of creative thinking, discussions which develop
alternatives to current problems, especially today. Faced with the
globalisation of a technocratic paradigm which tends to believe that
'every increase in power means an increase of progress itself, an
advance in security, usefulness, welfare and vigour; … an
assimilation of new values into the stream of culture, as if reality,
goodness and truth automatically flow from technological and economic
power as such', it is urgent that we keep reflecting on and talking
about our current situation. We need to ask ourselves about the kind
of culture we want not only for ourselves, but for our children and
our grandchildren. We have received this earth as an inheritance, as
a gift, in trust. We would do well to ask ourselves: 'What kind of
world do we want to leave behind? What meaning or direction do we
want to give to our lives? Why have we been put here? What is the
purpose of our work and all our efforts?'”.

“Personal initiatives are always
necessary and good”, he remarked. “But we are asked to go one
step further: to start viewing reality in an organic and not
fragmented way, to ask about where we stand in relation to others,
inasmuch as 'everything is interconnected'. As a university, as
educational institutions, as teachers and students, life itself
challenges us to answer this question: What does this world need us
for? Where is your brother?”

The Pope concluded by invoking the
inspiration and company of the Holy Spirit “for He has summoned us,
invited us, given us the opportunity and the duty to offer the best
of ourselves. He is the same Spirit Who on the first day of creation
moved over the waters, ready to transform them, ready to bestow life.
He is the same Spirit who gave the disciples the power of Pentecost.
The Spirit does not abandon us. He becomes one with us, so that we
can encounter paths of new life. May He, the Spirit, always be our
teacher and our companion along the way.

Vatican City, 8 July 2015 (VIS) –
Shortly before 6 p.m. (local time) the Pope arrived at the Church of
St. Francis, which along with its adjacent convent, constitutes the
oldest Catholic religious building in Latin America. The site, of
great symbolic significance for the indigenous populations as the
base of the Inca and Caranqui military commanders, was acquired by
the Franciscans using funds donated from Belgium. Construction began
in 1536, the year of the foundation of Quito, and was completed in
1680, although the complex was subsequently extended and was
nicknamed “El Escorial of the New World” for its artistic and
architectural wealth, extending over three and a half hectares of
buildings (13 cloisters, three churches, more than 3,500 colonial
works of art and a splendid Franciscan library). It currently hosts
various cultural and social activities as well as schools of
painting, sculpture and engraving.

The mayor of Quito, Mauricio Rodas,
awaited the Holy Father at the main entrance of the Church, in order
to present him the keys to the city. Following this simple act,
without speeches, the guardian of the Franciscan community welcomed
Francis to the centre where he met with Ecuadorian civil society and
the representatives of various sectors including culture and the
economy, industrial and rural enterprise, voluntary work and sport.
The indigenous Amazon peoples were well-represented.

After receiving greetings from the
archbishop of Cuenca, Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera, president of the
Commission for the Laity of the Episcopal Conference, and listening
to the words of three laypeople, the Pope pronounced a discourse
focusing on the importance of the family as the place where socially
useful values such as solidarity, gratuity and respect are learned.

“As I entered this church, the Mayor
of Quito gave me the keys to the city. So I can say that here, in
Saint Francis of Quito, I feel at home. His expression of
affectionate closeness, opening your doors to me, allows me to speak,
in turn, about a few other keys: keys to our life in society,
beginning with family life.

“Our society benefits when each
person and social group feels truly at home. In a family, parents,
grandparents and children feel at home; no one is excluded. If
someone has a problem, even a serious one, even if he brought it upon
himself, the rest of the family comes to his assistance; they support
him. His problems are theirs. Should it not be the same in society?
Our relationships in society and political life, though, are often
based on confrontation and the attempt to eliminate our opponents. My
position, my ideas and my plans will move forward if I can prevail
over others and impose my will. Is this the way a family should be?
In families, everyone contributes to the common purpose, everyone
works for the common good, not denying each person’s individuality
but encouraging and supporting it. The joys and sorrows of each are
felt by all. That is what it means to be a family! If only we could
view our political opponents or neighbours in the same way we view
our children or our spouse, mother or father! Do we love our society?
Do we love our country, the community which we are trying to build?
Do we love it in the abstract, in theory? Let us love it by our
actions more than by our words! In every person, in concrete
situations, in our life together, love always leads to communication,
never to isolation. St. Ignatius – allow me a publicity break –
St. Ignatius told us in the Exercises that love is shown more through
works than words. Le us love society in our works rather than in our
words! And he also told us that love always communicates, it tends
towards communication rather than isolation. Two criteria that can
help us to look upon society with new eyes. Not only to look at it;
to feel it, think it, touch it, love it”.

“This feeling can give rise to small
gestures which strengthen personal bonds. I have often spoken of the
importance of the family as the primary cell of society. In the
family, we find the basic values of love, fraternity and mutual
respect, which translate into essential values for society as a
whole: gratitude, solidarity and subsidiarity”.

“Parents know that all their children
are equally loved, even though each has his or her own character. But
when children refuse to share what they have freely received, this
relationship breaks down. The love of their parents helps children to
overcome their selfishness, to learn to live with others, to yield
and be patient. In the wider life of society we come to see that
'gratuitousness' is not something extra, but rather a necessary
condition of justice. Who we are, and what we have, has been given to
us so that we can place it at the service of others. Our task is to
make it bear fruit in good works. The goods of the earth are meant
for everyone, and however much someone may parade his property, it
has a social mortgage. In this way we move beyond purely economic
justice, based on commerce, towards social justice, which upholds the
fundamental human right to a dignified life. The tapping of natural
resources, which are so abundant in Ecuador, must not be concerned
with short-term benefits. As stewards of these riches which we have
received, we have an obligation toward society as a whole and towards
future generations. We cannot bequeath this heritage to them without
proper care for the environment, without a sense of gratuitousness
born of our contemplation of the created world. Among us today are
some of our brothers and sisters representing the indigenous peoples
of the Equatorial Amazon. That region is one of the 'richest areas
both in the number of species and in endemic, rare or less protected
species… it requires greater protection because of its immense
importance for the global ecosystem … it possesses an enormously
complex biodiversity which is almost impossible to appreciate fully,
yet when [such woodlands] are burned down or levelled for purposes of
cultivation, within the space of a few years countless species are
lost and the areas frequently become arid wastelands'. Ecuador –
together with other countries bordering the Amazon – has an
opportunity to become a teacher of integral ecology. We received this
world as an inheritance from past generations, but also as a loan
from future generations, to whom we will have to return it. In an
improved condition. And this is gratuity!”

“Out of the family’s experience of
fraternity is born solidarity in society, which does not only consist
in giving to those in need, but in feeling responsible for one
another. If we see others as our brothers and sisters, then no one
can be left out or set aside. Ecuador, like many Latin American
nations, is now experiencing profound social and cultural changes,
new challenges which need to be faced by every sector of society.
Migration, overcrowded cities, consumerism, crises in the family,
unemployment and pockets of poverty: all these factors create
uncertainty and tensions which threaten social harmony. Laws and
regulations, as well as social planning, need to aim at inclusion,
create opportunities for dialogue and encounter, while leaving behind
all forms of repression, excessive control or loss of freedom as
painful past memories. Hoping in a better future calls for offering
real opportunities to people, especially young people, creating
employment, and ensuring an economic growth which is shared by all
(rather than simply existing on paper, in macroeconomic statistics),
and promoting a sustainable development capable of generating a solid
and cohesive social fabric. Without solidarity this is impossible.

I referred to the young and to the lack
of work. Worldwide, this is alarming. European countries which were
at a high level a few decades ago are now experiencing rates of 40 to
50 per cent unemployment among the young population, those aged 25 or
below. Without solidarity this cannot be resolved. I said to the
Salesians [in Turin], 'Your institution was founded by Don Bosco to
educate, to give emergency education to those young people today who
have no work!' Why? Emergency, to prepare them for those little jobs
that give them the dignity of bringing home bread for the table. For
these young unemployed, those whom we call the 'neither nor' – they
neither study nor work – what prospects are left? Dependency,
sadness, depression, suicide – the statistics on suicide among the
young are not fully published – or to enlist in projects of social
madness that at least offer them an ideal? Today we are asked to take
care, in a special way, with solidarity, of this third sector of
exclusion of the throwaway culture. The first are children, because
either they are unwanted – there are developed countries where the
birthrate is almost at zero per cent – or they are killed before
they are born. Then there are the elderly, abandoned and left,
forgetting that they are the wisdom and memory of their people. They
are discarded. And now it is the turn of the young. Who has taken
their place? The servants of selfishness, the god of money at the
centre of a system that crushes everyone.

“Finally, the respect for others
which we learn in the family finds social expression in subsidiarity.
To recognise that our choices are not necessarily the only legitimate
ones is a healthy exercise in humility. In acknowledging the goodness
inherent in others, even with their limitations, we see the richness
present in diversity and the value of complementarity. Individuals
and groups have the right to go their own way, even though they may
sometimes make mistakes. In full respect for that freedom, civil
society is called to help each person and social organisation to take
up its specific role and thus contribute to the common good. Dialogue
is needed and is fundamental for arriving at the truth, which cannot
be imposed, but sought with a sincere and critical spirit. In a
participatory democracy, each social group, indigenous peoples,
Afro-Ecuadorians, women, civic associations and those engaged in
public service are all indispensable participants in this dialogue.
The walls, patios and cloisters of this city eloquently make this
point: rooted in elements of Incan and Caranqui culture, beautiful in
their proportions and shapes, boldly and strikingly combining
different styles, the works of art produced by the 'Quito school' sum
up that great dialogue, with its successes and failures, which is
Ecuador’s history. Today we see how beautiful it is. If the past
was marked by errors and abuses – how can we deny it! – we can
say that the amalgamation which resulted radiates such exuberance
that we can look to the future with great hope.

“The Church wishes for her part to
cooperate in the pursuit of the common good, through her social and
educational works, promoting ethical and spiritual values, and
serving as a prophetic sign which brings a ray of light and hope to
all, especially those most in need. Many people ask me, 'Father, why
do you speak so much about the needy, about people in need, excluded
people, those left by the wayside?'. It is simply because this
reality, and the response to this reality, is at the heart of the
Gospel. And precisely because the attitude with which we must face
this reality is inscribed in the protocol on which we will be judged,
in Matthew 25”.

Francis concluded, “Thank you for
being here, for listening to me. I ask you please to carry my words
of encouragement to the different communities and groups which you
represent. May the Lord grant that the civil society which you
represent may always be a fitting setting for experiencing and
practising these values of gratuity, solidarity and subsidiarity”.

The Holy Father ended his day with a
visit to the Church of the Society, the Society of Jesus' first
temple in Ecuador, built between 1605 and 1765, and one of the most
important architectural icons of the New World, a UNESCO World
Heritage Site. Along with some Jesuits from the community, he prayed
privately before the image of Our Lady of Sorrows. The visit lasted
around half an hour, after which the Pope transferred by car to the
apostolic nuncio where he spent the night.

Today, 8 July, the Pope is scheduled to
meet with the elderly in the Missionaries of Charity rest home in
Tumbaco, and with the clergy in the El Quinche national Marian
shrine. From there, the Pope will travel to Quito airport where he
will depart for Bolivia, the second phase of his apostolic trip in
Latin America.

Vatican City, 8 July 2015 (VIS) – The
Holy Father has appointed Bishop Jose Luiz Gomes de Vasconcelos as
bishop of Sobral (area 17,634, population 962,000, Catholics 815,000,
priests 71, religious 114), Brazil. He is currently auxiliary of the
archdiocese of Fortaleza, Brazil, and apostolic administrator of the
diocese of Sobral.